I Will Always Protect Him
by Helenaholland
Summary: A man bursts in to a feast intent on killing Arthur. Merlin knows he has to do something about it. Reveal-fic. Character death.


**A/N: This story has been in my head for quite a while but only just decided to write this. I hope you enjoy.**

Arthur trudged through the corridors, he was covered in mud and was walking with a slight limp. He had just finished training with his knights, it had started to pour down with rain but they had to finish their session and so by the end all of the knights were covered in mud despite the fact that not a single one of them had fallen over.

The limp was not due to a knight hitting him, it was very rare that any of the knights actually managed to hit Arthur at all, no the limp was because the mud was so thick his foot got caught in it while moving rather quickly and he pulled a muscle in his leg.

All in all Arthur was not having a good day, he was wet, cold and hurt. All he wanted to do was sink into warm bath full of water and not have to think about anything for a while, well until the feast that night which he had to attend.

Arthur threw open the doors into his room and said, "Merlin, draw me a hot bath. I am soaked and cold, not to mention all of this mud, you've got a lot of cleaning to do tonight."

Merlin, who was stood just inside the room flinched at the sudden noise. "Sire, I thought I was attending you at the feast tonight."

"You are."

"How can I do all this cleaning and go to the feast?"

"Find a way Merlin, it's your job."

"Arthur"

"That's the end of it Merlin, now please go get some water for my bath."

"Yes sire." Merlin said before he slid out of the door to go and fetch the water as quickly as possible. Merlin knew that when Arthur was in a mood like this it was best to just do everything as quickly and quietly as possible.

'I just hope that everything goes well tonight,' Merlin thought as he walked quickly back to Arthurs room with the water, 'If things go badly tonight then Arthur will just be even more insufferable.'

-Later that night at the feast-

"Merlin!" Arthur called as he waved his hand forward.

Merlin reluctantly glided towards Arthur, the feast was going quite well but Arthur had been seated next to some quite irritating people and so his mood was not improving at all.

"Yes Sire?" Merlin questioned as he reached Arthur.

"Merlin I need you to"

Arthur probably would have ended that sentence with some chore that would make Merlin even more annoyed, however he did not have the chance to answer as the doors were flung open and a tall man strode through and into the hall.

"Arthur Pendragon! You will pay for what you did to my sister!" The man yelled as he sent a fireball straight towards Arthur.

There was no time for Arthur to move out of the path of the fireball and there was also no time for Merlin to get in front of him. Merlin knew he only had one choice, to use magic.

Merlin extended his hand in front of him and carefully chose his words in order to create a protective barrier around Arthur and Uther. The fireball reached the barrier and dissolved as if it was never there.

Arthur looked around, confused as to what had happened.

"Who protects this man? Who would protect the man who would kill you in a second for your gift?" The man who threw the fireball exclaimed, his eyes scanned the room until they came to rest upon Merlin, his hand still outstretched. "You! You would protect this man?"

Arthur and Uther had, by this point, already turned around and seen that the man was talking to Merlin. Merlin avoided looking at Arthurs face, not wanting to see the betrayal and disgust on his face and instead turned to look at the man.

"Yes, I would protect this man and I always will. He is a great man and will be a great king!"

"He would have you killed, can you not see the look on his face?"

"That may be so, he may kill me for my magic but I could not let him die. It is my destiny to protect him and I have and will as long as I live." Merlin exclaimed.

"Who are you that you think you can protect the prince from me? You are but a boy, barely trained!" The man scoffed as he started to walk forwards slowly.

Merlin raised his head to look at the man dead in the eye, "I am Emrys, I need no training and I will protect this land until I breathe my last breath!" With this Merlin raised his hand once more and sent a bolt of lightning at the man, it hit him dead on and he fell to the floor.

Silence filled the room as they all looked between Merlin and the man who was led on the floor. After a minute Merlin decided that it was time to face the music and so turned to face the King and Arthur. The Kings face was stony, his eyes cold and Merlin knew that in a few seconds he would issue the order to execute Merlin.

Finally, Merlin turned to look at Arthur. His face was a mix of emotion ranging from anger to relief. 'The relief,' Merlin decided, 'was probably just from the fact that he did not die.'

"Merlin." Merlin flinched at the sound of Arthurs voice and lowered his head, ready for the sentence, "You are a sorcerer?"

Merlin slowly looked up and nodded, Arthur started walking towards him. "You absolute idiot, this is how you decide to tell me! In front of the entire court!" Arthur said this quietly so only Merlin could hear what he was saying. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I couldn't make you chose between me and your father, besides I always knew that you would hate me as soon as you found out." Merlin said, his head once again hanging down in shame and sorrow. He hated the idea that Arthur would now hate him.

"I don't hate you Merlin, but what can I do now? My father will sentence you to death, why did you do it?"

"Like I said, I couldn't let you die. I am meant to protect you and I always have and always will."

"It was you! All those times that things happened just at the right time, you did them."

"Yes Sire."

"Arthur!" The two men looked up at the sound of Uther's voice, "Stop talking to that man, he is evil! He uses magic and so will be punished as such."

"But father he saved my life." Arthur said, he figured that he could at least try and save Merlin.

"No Arthur, he will be executed at dawn. Guards!"

Arthur turned and looked at Merlin who was stood looking down at the floor awaiting his arrest, "Merlin," The guards started moving towards the two men, "there has to be something you can do."

Merlin opened his mouth to reply to Arthur but just as he did he saw, in the corner of his eye, the man who had burst into the room lift himself off the floor slightly and throw a knife at Arthur. There was no time to use any magic, no time to move Arthur out of the way and so Merlin did the only option.

"Merlin what are you...?" Arthur exclaimed as Merlin moved quickly and stood in front of Arthur just as the knife reached its destination and slid smoothly into Merlin's chest. "Merlin!"

Merlin stumbled slightly and fell backwards into Arthur's arms as the man that threw the knife once again fell to the floor and died.

"Arthur," Merlin said, his breathing was laboured, his shirt was already staining red as his blood poured out of the wound. "I told you that I would die for you."

"That doesn't mean that you had to die for me you idiot!"

"Clotpole."

"That's not even a real word," Arthur said as he looked down at his friend with watery eyes.

"Hey, no man is worth your tears." Merlin said with a slight smile on his face.

Arthur wanted to scream at the use of his own words against him, "Yeah well maybe I lied a little on that one."

"That may be Arthur but I am not worth your tears. I'm just a servant remember."

"These are simply tears at the thought of having to train a new servant Merlin. Like I'd cry over you."

Merlin smiled slightly at this, "Of course you're not crying over me Sire."

"Merlin?"

"Yes Arthur?"

"You were a great servant."

"Now you're just lying." Merlin said as his eyes started to slip closed.

"Fine, but you were a great friend Merlin and that's the truth."

"Goodbye Arthur, you were my best friend."

"As you were mine Merlin." Merlin's eyes closed and his body went limp in Arthur's lap, "Farewell my friend." Arthur said as a single tear fell down his face having escaped from his eye.

"Arthur?" Uther questioned as he looked at his son, holding the body of a warlock on the floor.

"Not now Father." Arthur said as he got up off the floor, Merlin's body held securely in his arms. He exited the hall and went out to the stables.

He slung Merlin's body over the front of his horse and swung himself on behind and rode out of Camelot as fast as possible, a single destination in mind, the place where Merlin would be laid to rest.

- A few hours later-

Arthur reached his destination and lifted Merlin off the horse and laid him down on the grass of the bank beside the large lake. Arthur had often seen Merlin sneak off and once when he followed his servant Merlin came here and just sat on the banks of the lake.

The water was calm and there was no sounds that were to be expected from the forest as Arthur began to dig a grave on the bank of the lake. He knew that it would take a long time and that it would have been easier to bring some people to help him. However he knew that Uther would never let him do this and anyway Arthur wanted to do this for him to show that he truly appreciated Merlin and his sacrifice.

Once the grave was finished Arthur carefully lifted Merlin's body into the grave, looked down at the grave and said, "Merlin, you were a terrible servant, you never showed up on time, you never listened to me and you never learnt how to clean my armour properly. But you were my friend not because I was prince and you made me a better person because you stood up to me and told me when I was wrong. I will miss you and I will see you in the afterlife."

After a few seconds of silence Arthur began to bury his friend. Once done Arthur gathered small stones and wrote a message on top of the grave. It said, 'Here lies Merlin, a warlock, a servant and a friend. He will be remembered.'

-Many years later-

Arthur was true to his word that Merlin would never be forgotten. Three years after Merlin's death, Uther died and Arthur became king. His first act as king was to get rid of the law against magic in honour of his best friend. The magic users around Camelot rejoiced that they would not longer be persecuted for their gift.

The people of the town often talked about Merlin and regaled each other with tales of when he was Arthur's servant and the many strange things that he got up to. The servants in the castle had fond memories of the boy that was always rushing around because he was late with Arthur's breakfast or some chore. The Lords and Ladies remembered the day that the king's life was saved by a servant and a warlock and how brave he was even in death. The knights remembered the funny servant that would always be there to help if you ever needed it, the man who could not fight with a sword and hated hunting but came none the less. However Arthur remembered a man who was always there for him, always made fun of him and helped him out so often with no thanks or reward.

Arthur and Gwen eventually got married and had a son, the day he was born Gwen and Arthur realised they had no name for their son.

Gwen turned to her husband and asked, "What do you want to name him?"

Arthur looked at his son who was cradled in his arms and said, "Do you have an idea?"

Gwen looked at her husband and knew the name that he wished to call their son, "I want you to name him Arthur, whatever you want."

Arthur lifted his hand and stroked the small amount of black hair that was on his son's head and said, "I am going to name you after the greatest man that I have ever known. When you're older I am going to tell you all about him so that he will never be forgotten, your name is Merlin." He then turned to his wife, "Is that okay?"

Gwen smiled at her husband and stroked his arm, "It's perfect."

**A/N: Not sure about the ending but I wanted to but a future bit in to show that Merlin was remembered. Whatever, I hope you all enjoyed that and please feel free to leave a review :D**


End file.
